The pandemic has seen workplace dynamics change. Some people began working from home and once lockdown restrictions eased, many started working remotely in some pretty picturesque destinations.
Site VacationRenter recently surveyed 1000 Americans currently working from home to find out about working remotely during their travels.
The survey found that people were more comfortable going out after months of staying in, and many planned to travel again. Over half of the people surveyed took a trip in 2020 while working remotely or planned to take a trip now that they can continue working wherever they go. Almost 40% of people surveyed were interested in combining work with personal travel.
The survey found that most respondents took smaller trips, and over half said their number one reason for working away from home was to be with family.
Around 70% of respondents claimed they needed a change of scenery or wanted to be closer to nature while they worked. Natural escapes like national parks have open spaces, non-recycled air and are easy to socially distance. Almost two-thirds of respondents had travelled to be with friends or a significant other, deciding to quarantine together while working remotely. Nearly half claimed to have travelled just to take advantage of the newfound opportunity for excursions while they continued working.
VacationRenter also found that older generations, like baby boomers, were the most likely to travel while they worked to enjoy a change in scenery. Millennials felt most comfortable travelling to be with family and loved ones, while Generation X was the age bracket most likely to have taken a trip merely to take advantage of the opportunity to travel while working.
Almost every survey respondent who took work with them while they travelled was very satisfied with their trip, and, on average, most took three more trips after their initial trial of digital nomadism.
Working remotely has many benefits
Many people felt remote working and travelling to be more beneficial than working from an office. Six out of ten survey respondents felt more productive taking work with them as they travelled than they did staying in an office or working at home. They also found that travelling benefited their health in multiple ways. Over half of respondents said travelling positively affected their mental health and decreased their level of work-related stress. Working from home can also positively affect people’s productivity. Travelling helped increase the quality of work people were producing and encouraged them to get more work done.
Around 95% of the survey respondents stated that travelling while working remotely was extremely instrumental in their work productivity and experience.